Operation: Disaster Date
by Ray of Starlight
Summary: Remember that date Riley asked Hannah out on that didn't happen? Well, it's happening now and a certain set of twins are less then thrilled about it. One-shot sequel to Twin Times the Fun. Don't necessarily have to read TTtF to understand.


**A/N:** This is a direct one-shot sequel to Twin Times the Fun, though I guess you don't necessarily have to read that to get what's going on here. I had a lot of fun writing this one and I hope that you have fun reading it.

BTdubs this is not beta-read so all mistakes are mine.

Remember how in Twin Times the Fun Riley asked Hannah out on a date, but it got sidetracked after the death of her mother? Well...here's that date!

* * *

Operation: Disaster Date  
One-Shot Sequel to Twin Times the Fun

She smoothed her hands down her sides, pressing out any wrinkles the cool fabric may have accumulated with her pacing, twisting in the mirror to check every angle. She sucked in her stomach to the point where it was hard to breathe normally. She kept her shoulders back, jutting her chest out as if it could make her small chest look substantially bigger. It made her look like she was trying to do a back bend. Huffing she smoothed her hands down the front of the dress again. Her hands were warm and irritated with her many passes. She went back to the mirror, twisting and craning, trying to examine herself.

"Would you quiet freaking out? You look great!"

Hannah spun around to see Mikaela standing in the doorway of her room, leaning against the doorframe with a knowing smile. Hannah flushed embarrassingly, like she always did and smiled thankfully.

"Actually," Mikaela continued, venturing further into the room, "I think you pull that dress off better then me." The teen's bright blue eyes roved over Hannah's body, indiscreetly checking her out. "You have longer legs then me."

Hannah laughed softly. "Yeah, toothpicks legs."

Mikaela shook her head. "Take a compliment, Hannah," she pressed. Grabbing the older girl by the shoulders she turned her to face her reflection in the mirror. "You look beautiful."

Hannah's smile widened. She had to admit, as hard as it was, that she looked pretty damn good. The dress Mikaela had given her was solid black with a pencil skirt that ended just above her knees. The top of the dress was strapless with a black bow in front just below her bust. The heels Mikaela had put her in were moderately high, something Hannah had needed practice getting used to, and the jewelry she wore was simple and silver. Mikaela had wrangled in Sarah Lennox to do her hair little earlier, a simple French twist, nothing over the top before proceeding to makeup.

"Thank you," Hannah said to her friend. "I mean _really_ thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't…"

Mikaela winked at her. "No problem. I love makeovers." She leaned in closer. "He's going to _flip_ when he sees you like this."

Hannah felt her skin flush at the thought. She wasn't one to really put herself out there, but with recent events she had learned that life was too short to be overly safe. After the death of her mother and the confrontation with her father, Hannah felt like she was ready to truly start living.

"You really think so? It's not too much right? I mean, he did say dress up," Hannah asked herself more then Mikaela.

Mikaela answered anyway. "It's perfect. Come on. Sideswipe's waiting for you."

Hannah's heart skipped a beat. "Right. Okay." She took the coat that Mikaela offered to her. Slipping it over her shoulders she nodded confidently. "Let's do this."

* * *

Sideswipe paced in front of the mirror. Sunstreaker huffed at his twin with a roll of his eyes. Sideswipe glared at him. Both in their holograms, Sideswipe's uneasy was much more prevalent. After all, humans were much more physically expressive then they were. Nervousness for them was something controllable, easy masked, but for humans it was worn out on their sleeves with sweating and fidgeting.

"I don't think I can do this," Sideswipe said. "What if I mess this up and I ruin everything?"

Sunstreaker walked over to his brother and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Everything will be fine. Stick to the plan and it will all work out just as we planned it."

"But—"

"Nuh uh. No 'buts.' We got this, bro. Piece of cake."

But Sideswipe was not reassured. "But what if I mess up? Oh, Primus, she'll hate me."

"Then don't mess up," Sunny said simply, as if it could solve the problem. "I'll be with you the whole time."

"Yeah, I guess," Sides said reluctantly. "Alright. Let's go through it one more time."

Sunstreaker patted his brothers shoulders. "Right, okay, first is dinner at La Bella Note. Approximately an hour and twenty-three minutes."

Sideswipe nodded. "Yeah, then the show."

"Some silly ballet," Sunstreaker affirmed.

"Hey, I heard it was actually pretty good. Hannah might like it."

"Moving on. You got the tickets?"

Sideswipe held them up.

"The show will take three hours. Then it'll be over. Got it?"

"Got it."

Sides turned away from his brother to examine himself in the mirror. His brother insisted that he dress nicely given the events planned for the night. Sunny was pressing for a suit, but Sides thought that would be a little two much. So instead Sideswipe downloaded an outfit he saw in an Express add. Black dress pants, black leather shoes, and a nice button shirt. He even mimicked the male model's hair style with his own to pull it together. Sunstreaker was dressed similarly to him but not exact adding an expressive looking watch and wearing his longer hair a different way.

"Are you ready?" Sunny asked him.

Sideswipe titled his chin upward, his posturing radiating his determination with his lack of confidence. "As I'll ever be."

* * *

"Purse?"

"Check."

"Wallet?"

"Check."

"Phone?"

"Check."

"Condoms?"

"Che…What?"

"Kidding! I'm kidding!"

Hannah rolled her eyes and walked further down the hall, Mikaela smiling behind her hand as she jogged to catch up. The hall of the human side of the base would end at large, double steel doors that opened to a large hanger where the Autobots could stand at their full height without rupturing the ceiling and it was there that she saw him standing with a bouquet of flowers and a shy smile.

"Wow," he said, wide eyed. "You look…_great._"

Hannah blushed. "You look great too."

He was so busy gawking that he completely forgot about the flowers until Mikaela, who stood behind Hannah gestured to them. "Oh! These are for you."

Hannah took the bouquet. "Thanks. They're beautiful."

"And I'll take those," Mikaela said, reaching around to pull them from Hannah. "I'll put them in water for you. Now get going or you'll be late!"

Hannah laughed. "Alright, we're going." She turned to face him. "You ready?"

Riley smiled charmingly. "Sure am."

* * *

"Alright. Operation: Disaster Date is a go."

"Did you really need to give it a name?"

"It makes it sound official."

"It makes it sound stupid."

"What would you call it then?"

"An intervention."

Sideswipe looked over at his brother's hologram sitting in the driver seat of a yellow Lamborghini. "I like the name," he stated. "This is Operation: Disaster Date."

Sunstreaker leaned back in the seat. "Whatever. We better head out after them. They'll reach the restaurant soon."

The two Lamborghini's pulled out, the red one leading. They took another route then Riley and Hannah. Given their model and color they were easy to spot and Hannah would definitely notice them following. They ended up arriving at La Bella Note a few minutes before them and parked across the street, behind some bushes. The side of the restaurant was a glass window, allowing the twins to see into the entire restaurant. Riley pulled the Jeep Cherokee into a parking spot and, ever the gentlemen, rushed out to open the passenger door for Hannah.

"You cancelled the reservation right?" Sunny asked.

"Oh, you know it," Sideswipe grinned maniacally.

Sunstreaker rolled his eyes at his cackling brother and leaned forward. Focusing his eyes he watched Riley and Hannah approach the host stand and give his name. And, much to his delight, the hostess shook her head and smile apologetically. This time Sunstreaker couldn't help but chuckle along with his brother as Riley asked them to check again. While Riley sputtered embarrassingly, Hannah smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, well," she said, "I wasn't in the mood for Italian."

Both brothers knew that was a lie. Hannah loved Italian food. But Hannah was sweet and wouldn't want Riley to worry too much about it. So they left the restaurant and stood on the curb, Riley looking utterly humiliated.

"Awesome," Sides said. "Dinners out. You think they'll head to the theater now?"

Sunstreaker frowned as Hannah took Riley's hand and pointed across the street to a small shack of a building with a small sign reading 'Ike's.' Riley looked unsure, but Hannah simply pulled him.

"Lebanese food," she enthused. "You'll like it."

Riley allowed her to pull him towards the restaurant…that had barely any windows and wouldn't allow the brothers to see anything.

"No, no, no, no!" Sideswipe lamented, dropping his head to the steering wheel.

"Bro," Sunny said tensely, "we have a made a serious miscalculation."

"What?"

"Hannah's good nature."

* * *

Hannah smiled as the waitress greeted them. "Good. How are you?"

The young woman smiled. "I'm good. Wow, you two look like your having a night out on the town."

Translation: why the hell are dressed like that in a place like this?

Hannah shrugged. "Well, our reservation got cancelled at La Bella Note so we decided to come here."

Riley still looked put out.

"Oh, I've never been," the waitress gushed. "Looks nice, but I heard that there's a long wait."

"Two a half weeks," Riley pouted.

Hannah continued to smile. "But it's no big deal. Maybe next time."

Riley perked up at that.

* * *

"Damn," Sunny cursed.

"Next time?" Sideswipe said, voice cracking on hysterical. "NEXT TIME?"

"Cool it, Sides," Sunny said. "There will not be a next time. Now shut up, I can't hear them."

* * *

"So what's it like having Sideswipe for a guardian?"

Hannah's eyes glazed over as a fond smile tugged at her lips. "I don't know. Great, wonderful, awesome, all positives. Sides…" she giggled. "Sides definitely doesn't make life boring. Honestly," she said looked down at her hands, "I don't know what I'd do without him now."

* * *

"Zing!"

"Will you shut up, please?"

* * *

"Yeah, he sounds great," Riley agreed. "I know working him in the field is always a plus. I definitely trust him and the other Autobots to have my back."

* * *

"…Okay, now I feel guilty."

"Don't let him get into your head, Sides."

Hannah and Riley's conversation was casual. Riley knew to strictly avoid asking about Hannah's childhood. Hannah, on the other hand, asked Riley all about growing up in Kansas, about his parents and his abundance of siblings. Riley often felt awkward for talking about something that Hannah never had the joy of knowing. But Hannah seemed more interested in getting to know him rather then thinking or dwelling on her own past. They ate their food and even got baklava for desert. Riley admitted that he really liked the food.

The couple was still seemingly ignorant to the spies as they walked back to the car all smiles and cheerful flirting. Sideswipe grumbled under his breath, his body shifting anxiously on his wheels.

"Relax," Sunstreaker said. "The night isn't over. The theater is next. Let's go."

"Right," the other agreed.

They waited until Riley and Hannah were out of the parking lot before they made their own way out. They pulled into the parking lot just as Hannah and Riley entered the building, Riley politely holding open the door for her.

Parking their real bodies, the twins left them and headed into the building. They got seats a few rows behind Riley and Hannah that would allow them to watch. They followed them at a distance, staying a few paces back, but Hannah was already starting to notice something was up. She'd occasionally try to look over her shoulder while trying to keep her attention on Riley. Having been around Sideswipe for almost a year now, it seemed that he was starting to rub off on her.

Sunstreaker watched as Riley handed the tickets to the usher and they were shown to their seats. "Okay. Let's go."

But Sideswipe was missing. Damn his wayward brother.

Sunstreaker eventually found Sideswipe. His twin came up to him with programs and handed one to him. "I got this for you!" he announced.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Let's go."

They found their seats on their own. Hannah and Riley were four rows ahead of them and slightly to the left. Less then discretely, the twins raised their programs to hide their faces, earning a few strange looks from their fellow theater-goers.

"What are we going to do?" Sides asked.

"Nothing yet," Sunny explained. "Just watch them. Make sure he doesn't try anything…funny."

"Like what?"

"Kissing, touching…making out."

"You'd think they'd do that with all these people here?"

"Humans find it thrilling to be intimate in theaters."

"Yeah, _movie_ theaters. I don't think this qualifies as a prime heavy petting location," Sides said grouchily, but he still peeked over his program to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "And besides, Hannah is not that kind of girl."

While that was true, their Hannah had never been out on a date with someone like Riley. Sunstreaker would use the human expression 'couldn't trust him as far as he could throw him,' but given that Sunny could throw the miniscule human very far it didn't really apply. With his enhanced vision, Sunny was able to make out the couple very clearly, talking in hushed whispers, Riley's indulging, Hannah's excitement as she leaned forward in her seat. Perhaps going to the ballet as a first date was a little old fashioned, but Sunstreaker had to commend Riley on the pick. Given Hannah's upbringing, an old fashioned date was a good way to ease her into it.

Sunny growled under his breath. Clever bastard.

"Bro," Sides spoke up softly, "I'm just as displeased as you on this date, but could you please stop trying to incinerate the human with your eyes. And quit _growling,_ you animal!"

Sunny ignored his brother. The lights dimmed further. A voice came over the load speaker encouraging the patrons not to record or take pictures and then the orchestra started. While Sunny wasn't overly fond of the human species, he didn't hate them and he did appreciate some of their contributions to the universe. Human music was some of the most diverse and intricate that he had ever heard.

He hardly watched the dancing, however, his eyes remaining locked on Hannah and Riley. Sideswipe tried to follow suit, but his twin's eyes kept on drifting towards the stage where he would be absorbed for a few minutes before shaking his head and looking back to his ward, a smile gracing his mouth as if he could tell she was enjoying it immensely.

Sunny silently begrudged Riley for not being, what humans called, a 'dick.' The implications of the insult insinuated that the individual was a jerk, crass, rude, arrogant or otherwise, even though it was also the term humans attribute to a male's external reproductive organ. It would be a lot easier to whisk Hannah away from Riley if he was more of _a dick_. But Riley was not. He was a perfect gentleman. He didn't try to take her hand. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, with a slight tilt of his head and an easy smile. As the show went on, Sunny and Sides both realized that it wasn't just Hannah's good nature that they had to watch out.

As the curtain dropped for intermission, Hannah jumped up excitedly. "Wow that was great!" she pronounced. "The ending was a little open, but wow! Amazing!"

Riley laughed good-naturedly. "Hannah's there's a whole second half."

Hannah's smile impossibly widened. "Really? That's great!" She shifted from foot to foot. "I'm just gonna run to the restroom. I'll be right back."

She made her way out of the aisle, politely excusing herself as she slid past other audience members, Sunny and Sides held up their programs to shield their faces. Sunny couldn't believe how much Hannah was enjoying herself. It thrilled him to see her having such a good time, but made him loathe Riley even more and that was not good considering how they had to work with the human on a regular basis.

A soft snigger made him glance at his brother, whose shoulders were shaking in his effort to suppress his laughter as he continued to shield his face with his program.

"What's so funny?" Sunny demanded.

"She is bored out of her mind," Sides stated.

Sunny frowned. "What?"

Sides lowered the program and looked at his twin with confident blue eyes. "She's bored out of her mind. You can't tell?"

"How can you say that? She's totally absorbed."

"She's faking," Sides said with a casual shrug, slouching in his chair, looking thoroughly relaxed. "She doesn't want to offend Riley so she pretending to like it. She was over it less then half way through the first act."

Sunny stared with a rather slacked jawed expression. "How can you tell?"

Sides usually easy going smile was darkened with smugness. "Hannah has a lot of tells all for different things. When she's nervous or anxious she bites the left side of her bottom lip. When she's embarrassed she scratches behind her right ear. When she's feeling shy she twirls her hair with her fingers. When she's bored she fingers _Ode to Joy_ from Beethoven's Ninth on her knee."

Sunny continued to stare. "…What?"

"You remember her friend Ken? Well, Ken took piano lessons when he was a kid. He taught her how to play an easy version of it for fun. It's the only song she knows. When she's bored she'll finger out the tune on her knee."

Sunny was impressed. "How do you know these things?"

"I'm her guardian," came the simplified reply, "I _need_ to know these things. Watch her after intermission. You'll see."

Fifteen minutes later, Hannah wandered back into the venue and took her seat next to Riley. The lights dimmed and the orchestra started back up again. As the curtain rose, Sunny's eyes shifted over to Hannah. So far, Hannah's eyes were glued to the stage, wide and attentive as she took it all in. As the ballet continued, her hands didn't move until about half way through the second act when her right index finger started to tap incessantly on her knee. Sunny heard his brother's huffed laughter and softly spoken "here she goes."

A couple seconds after her finger started tapping, all five fingers in her right hand started a rhythmical tapping as she punched out imaginary notes on her knee to a song. As Sunny looked up the musical score to the movement and chuckled. Her fingers movements matched up perfectly. She was playing a beginner's version of _Ode to Joy_ on her knee. Sideswipe was right. Hannah was bored.

"Boo-yah," Sides whispered to him. "It's in the bag."

Sunny sat back in his seat, a little more at ease now. Sideswipe watched the rest of the performance quietly, his eyes occasionally flickering to Hannah to see what she was doing. Sunny actually allowed his eyes to slip shut and took a deep breath. Hannah was a wonderful person when you get right down to it. She was friendly, courteous, and respectful and undoubtedly she'd tell Riley that she enjoyed the ballet, regardless of how bored she had been.

Sure enough, as the ballet ended (in tragedy, of course) there was a look of relief on Hannah's face before she began to smile beamingly and clap like the rest of the audience. As the performers took their final bow, Sunny heard a couple sniffles. Looking over at his brother, who looked utterly heartbroken, he stared exasperated.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sunny said to him.

Sideswipe looked turned towards him, practically blubbering. "It's just so sad!"

"You can't even cry, you bolt for brains."

"That doesn't mean I can't feel!"

Rolling his eyes, Sunny ushered Sides to make a break for it before they got caught, following the crowd. Sideswipe gushed about the show, expressing his distain for the betrayal and murder and heartbreak he had just witnessed and telling his twin what he would have done in the situation. Sunny did his best to tune the rambling out.

"I can't believe it…Sunny, Sides! What are you doing here?"

Sunny and Sides froze mid-step and turned to face Hannah and Riley, the later of whom had been the one to call them out with a wide, friendly smile. Hannah, on the other hand, looked like she was contemplating various methods of hurting them. Sunny learned that Hannah had another tell, when she was angry involving a tense jaw and tightly pursed lips.

"Yeah," Hannah said, her voice dangerously soft, "what _are_ you doing here?"

Sideswipe sputtered helplessly. Sunstreaker looked anywhere but at Hannah. Riley, oh sweet Riley, was blissfully unaware of what was going on as he continued to smile.

"You inspired us," Sunny finally said to Riley.

"I did?" Riley asked.

"He did?" Sides asked.

Sunny's eyes darted over to Hannah, who was now standing with her arms crossed, watching him expectantly. "Uh, yeah! Sides and I have been on Earth for a while now and we haven't really taken the time to…_appreciate _the, uh, _various _forms of art on this planet. So, we decided to come here," he gestured generally to the venue, "to a ballet."

"And just so happen to get seats a few rows behind us," Hannah pointed out, "just by coincidence?"

"Wow!" Riley exclaimed, with a laugh. "That is a big coincidence. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you followed us here."

Both twins laughed awkwardly as they glanced at each other.

"Wouldn't that be weird?" Sides asked. "I mean, why would we follow you? Like we were coming to spy on your date or something, right?"

Sunny elbowed him.

"I mean, why would we have to spy? It's not like we don't think you don't know how to take a girl out on a date, Riley. I mean, from what we could tell you were a perfect gentlemen the whole time."

Sunny stomped on his foot.

To both of the twins' surprise, Hannah's lips were twitching into a small smile. She tried ducking her head down to hide it, but both had seen the amusement in her eyes. Riley laughed uneasily, as if he was beginning to put it together.

"Let's head outside," Sunny finally suggested.

Riley and Hannah walked ahead of the twins, talking in hushed tones, but Sunny and Sides were still able to easily pick up what they were saying. They couldn't help but feel a little realized as Hannah tried to discourage Riley from thinking that the twins didn't trust him with her alone or that they had been really spying. Which they didn't and which they did. Hannah must have known that as well, but she still looked back at them with a small smile, that fringed with annoyance. To Sunstreaker and Sideswipe it meant that while she was annoyed with them, she understood and was even a little grateful that she had them looking out for her. Her smile put both of them at ease.

As they left the theater, Riley automatically steered Hannah towards where his car was parked. While the twins watched disapprovingly, but silent, Hannah's smile turned teasing.

"See you back at base, guys."

Riley casually waved as the pair headed towards his car. Sideswipe sputtered helplessly, gesturing feebly and looked at his brother desperately to do something.

"Why won't she ride back with us?"

"The dates not over, Sides," Sunny explained. "He has to take her home."

"Then it's over?"

Sunny did not like where his thoughts were shifting. "Maybe."

"What do you mean _maybe?"_

Sunny stared at his twin, his gaze verging on exasperation.

Sideswipe blinked. "What? I don't get it. I…" Cue epiphany. "No."

Sunstreaker nodded tersely.

"No!"

Sunstreaker sighed.

"_NO!_ He wouldn't _dare!"_

"Humans follow a ritual with these things," Sunny explained. "It'll be Hannah decision."

"But…But…"

Sides went from a stand still to a frantic sprint for his true body, half tempted to forget the pretenses of being human and just disintegrate the hologram in public. Sunny called after him and just got into his body as Sides was peeling into traffic, swerving to get ahead. He'd beat them back, catch Hannah before she made any reckless decisions, and then kick Riley's ass, regardless of Optimus' protocol.

"Optimus Prime to Sideswipe; come in."

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Sides tried to keep his tone respectful as he replied, "Sideswipe, here. What can I do for you, boss?"

"The energon detectors on the east side are down," Optimus said. "I need you to head over there and help with the repairs."

Sideswipe had a hard time resisting the urge to scream. "Can't Wheeljack do it, sir?"

There was a pause and Sides was sure that Optimus was grinding he teeth, so to speak. "Wheeljack is currently…_indisposed."_

In other words, Wheeljack blew himself up again.

But Sideswipe had more pressing matters to attend to, like protecting Hannah's virtue and whatnot.

"But, sir, I—"

"This is not up for debate, soldier. The energon detectors need to constantly remain online. You and your brother will go to the east side and handle the repairs. _Now._ Optimus out."

The line went dead.

Sideswipe growled. "Son. Of. A. _Bitch!"_

"What happened?" Sunstreaker asked.

"We're heading for the east side," Sides growled out. "The engeron detectors are down and we need to fix them."

"…Can't Wheeljack do it?"

"The bastard blew himself up!"

"But what about Hannah?"

"It's an order, Sunny."

"Then let's hurry," Sunstreaker suggested. "Maybe he'll try romancing her first. That might give us some time."

"…You are so _not_ making me feel better."

"Then I suggest you haul ass, brother."

They sped for the east side.

* * *

Sideswipe didn't apologize to any of the humans he yelled at while they tried to repair the detectors. He didn't call them out on calling him an 'asshole' and a 'dick' among other human insults. He didn't care.

He thought about Hannah, her smile, her good nature and he thought about Riley and fumed with jealously. He used to like the kid, now he just wanted to step on him, like an insect. Thoughts like these were dark and rather rare for the usually easy going mech, but nonetheless, entertaining the idea brought a little smile to his face. What would Riley look like smeared on the concrete? It was a tantalizing daydream.

Hannah would never forgive him though. Riley, at the very least, was he friend and the first man to ask her out on a date. According to Hannah, Ken didn't count because they were best friends and took care of each other in high school as the social outcasts.

But what if Riley tried to make a move on her? What if he tried to _kiss _her? What if he tried to…

These thoughts were dangerous and only fueled his irritation and aggression. Noticing this, Sunstreaker gave his brother a substantial amount of space during the course of the repairs. It was smart of him to do so.

When the detectors came to life with a low hum and blue indicator light, Sideswipe nearly cheered aloud.

Sunny followed close behind them as they made their way back to base, breaking various rules of the road, neither really caring. All the while, Sides came up with different scenarios on how he was going to handle the situation. Knock politely and pretend to be utterly ignorant to the tenor of the room as he discretely got Riley out of the picture or kick in the door, threaten the cretin with bodily harm that would forever prevent him from procreation, and throw him out? He rather preferred the latter, but didn't think it would go over well with either Optimus or Hannah.

Unlike the soldiers on base neither had to show identification as they pulled up to the base. The gate automatically opened and they spend inside.

Parked outside the residential sector, the twins quickly formed holograms and ran down the hall towards Hannah's room. Sideswipe raised a fist to knock, but paused centimeters away from the door.

All of a sudden he didn't know what to do.

"What are you waiting for?" Sunstreaker asked.

"What if he's in there?"

"All the more reason to knock."

"No," Sides said, defeat in his voice. "Hannah likes him. What if she really, _really_ likes him?"

Sunny huffed, aggravated. "You have _got_ to be kidding me! Knock on the damn door!"

But Sideswipe didn't. This entire evening, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had been stalking and even tried to discretely to ruin the date by cancelling the dinner reservation. Hannah trusted them and they were spying on her. Hannah was human and Riley could giver her things that Sideswipe could only ever dream of giving her.

Like a normal, human life.

Children.

Sideswipe flinched back, as if struck. Why was he interfering again? It wasn't for Hannah's benefit that was for sure. Sighing, Sides knew, even from the beginning, that he was being selfish. He just didn't want to admit it.

"We should go," Sides said softly.

Sunstreaker looked almost murderous. "No! We are going to finish this. We are not letting Hannah—"

"We?" Sides asked, rounding on his brother. "When did this ever having anything to do with _you_, Sunstreaker?"

Sunstreaker took a step back.

"I am Hannah's guardian, not you," Sides continued. "And she is a grown woman and she can make her own decisions," he sighed, looking at the door, "even if I don't particularly _like_ them."

"Then what was the point of all this?" Sunny demanded. "Why bother in the first place?"

"What we did was wrong," Sideswipe stated. "We betrayed Hannah's trust by spying on her. Riley is a…decent guy, I guess." Wow. It actually hurt to say those words out loud. "And if Hannah likes him then…" he looked up at his brother sorrowfully, "neither one of us has the right to interfere."

Sunstreaker looked like he wanted to argue, probably for the same selfish reason that Sideswipe had denied earlier, but he didn't. Instead he cursed under his breath and leaned against the wall, crossed his arms.

Sideswipe took a shaky breath and looked at Hannah's door. "We should go."

Sunstreaker nodded slowly and they moved to walk away.

"You know, I had this huge, long lecture planned on how you guys have no right to dictate who I go out with, how I don't need to be constantly followed, and if you even thought about threatening Riley I would purposely take you to a grocery store and hit you with shopping carts, but I'll think I'll save that for another day."

The twins rounded. They hadn't even heard the door open. Hannah stood in the hall, arms crossed. She had changed out of her evening wear into a pair of comfortable grey sweats and a monstrously large t-shirt that hung off her shoulders. She didn't look angry, in fact, her brown eyes were lively behind her glasses and she had a small smile.

"I swear," she said, "sometimes I don't know what to do with either of you."

"We're sorry," Sides apologized. "We shouldn't have followed you."

"Yeah, about that," Hannah said, taking a step forward. "What the heck? Don't you guys trust me to handle myself for one night without you?"

"It's not you that we didn't trust," Sunny said under his breath.

"Ah, I see," Hannah nodded understandingly. "Well, you shouldn't be so hard on Riley. You fight together, don't you? He's a good guy."

Neither of the twins could deny that. Riley had never been anything but kind to them since they met. Unfortunately, his kindness was what made him such a threat to them in the first place.

"So how was Riley?" Sides asked, rubbing the back of his head. "You know, about us following you all night."

Hannah sighed, crossing his arms. "I think he bought your story about seeing the ballet on your own, not because we were there. But it took a little convincing."

They were within their right to look sheepish. Hannah smiled at the mirroring expressions of their faces.

"So what happened when you got back to base?" Sunny asked. Hannah's expression became murderous. "If you don't mind us asking," he quickly added.

"Does it look like I mind?" Hannah bit out sarcastically, pointing to her face.

"Yes," Sunny said as Sideswipe conceded to "a little."

Hannah's face fell into exasperation. "He walked me to my door and we said good night. I was reading when you guys got into a tiff out here."

"So you didn't invite him in?" Sides asked hopefully.

Sunny promptly stomped on his foot. Again.

Hannah's eyes widened. "You think that we were…" Her cheeks turned beat red and she slapped at their chest repeatedly. "Oh, my God, you guys! Seriously?"

"Isn't that the ritual?" Sides asked, unsure.

"Sideswipe!" Hannah cried. "I'm not that kind of girl. I don't sleep with a guy after the first date. Geez! I at least wait until the second one."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker stared.

Hannah stared off, dreamily. "And we're going out again next Friday."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker sputtered awkwardly.

Large brown eyes glowed and lips turned into a teasing smile. "Gotcha."

Sides glared at her. "Not funny."

Hannah laughed, holding her stomach. "Oh, _so_ deserved that! Your faces were _priceless."_

Sunny looked at his brother and gestured towards Hannah angry as if to say 'you need to do something about this.' But Sideswipe wouldn't even know where to begin.

"Maybe Riley and I will got out again, but not for a while," Hannah said with a shrug. "We both have a lot going on. We'll see."

Sideswipe flinched a little at hearing this, but still managed to smile. "Good. He's a good guy."

Sunny had the audacity to look betrayed. Hannah looked surprised.

"Do you guys…" she gestured towards her apartment, "want to come in? We can watch a movie or something."

"No, I'm good," Sunny said. "It's been a long night. I'll see you two later."

And Sunstreaker turned and practically fled. Sideswipe stared after him with hard eyes. Yeah, this thing Sunny had for Hannah needed to end. He had Maggie now. There was no reason for him to pine after Hannah anymore.

Yeah, if only it were that simple.

"How about you?" Hannah asked. "You in? We can watch _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ if you want. I know you like that one."

Sideswipe had to smile at that. Not that Hannah wasn't a fan of Monty Python, but there were probably other movies she wanted to watch, but since she knew they were Sideswipe's favorites they always ended up watching one. Still, she did get a kick out of it when Bumblebee would quote the lines from the movie using the voices of the actors.

"_And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade, that with it Thou mayst blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy."_

Hannah would laugh, her sides hurting as Bumblebee would mocking act the scenes, pretending to be all the characters, changing his voice as he needed it.

"Okay," he said.

Hannah smiled and he followed her into her apartment. While Hannah made popcorn, Sideswipe got the movie, popping it into the DVD player. As the credits rolled Hannah came in, giggling softly at the inaccurate subtitles. Sitting on the couch next to her guardian, she crossed her legs to cradle the large bowl of popcorn. Sometimes, Sides wished he could eat it, since it was the traditional snack of choice to eat while watching movies.

"So did you have fun tonight?" Sides asked.

Hannah sighed and looked over at him, chewing her mouthful. "We're still on that?"

Sideswipe shrugged, throwing his arms on the back of the couch as he put his feet up on the coffee table. "I was just wondering."

Hannah straightened and looked at the TV. "It was great. I had a lot of fun."

And Sideswipe just couldn't resist. "Even the ballet?"

"_Especially_ the ballet."

He grinned. "Liar."

Promptly, Hannah snagged the remote and paused the movie just as the whooping and the llama credits started. "Excuse me, but what's that supposed to mean?"

Sideswipe laughed, his head falling back. "You were bored out of your mind."

Hannah looked guilty for a split second. "How do you know, stalker?"

"_Ode to Joy_."

Hannah blinked. "Huh?"

"You play it on your knee," Sides explained. He demonstrated on his own knee watching as Hannah flushed embarrassingly.

"So?" she retorted weakly. "Everything else was great."

Sides still held onto that small victory as he stole the remote back and hit play. Hannah fumed next to him for a moment, watching as Arthur, King of the Britains argued with a sentry about European swallows and African swallows and coconuts, before she snagged the remote and paused it again.

"Did you have anything to do with cancelling the reservation at the restaurant?"

Sideswipe pursed his lips together and tried to avoid looking at her.

"You did, didn't you?" It was more of a statement then a question.

He contemplated putting the blame on Sunstreaker, but Hannah was already smacking him in the arm.

"You're a real jerk, you know that?" she cried. "He had to put that reservation in two weeks in advance."

"Hannah…"

"This was more then just following me to make sure he didn't try anything funny, wasn't it?" she accused. "You actually tried to sabotage my date!"

Sideswipe sighed. It wasn't like he could deny it. He couldn't lie to her.

"Get out," she ordered, leaping off the couch. "Right now. Get out."

Sides jumped up, hands raised complaisantly. "Hannah, I'm sorry. Please let me—"

"No!" she interrupted. "How could you do that to me? You know that I…" She cut herself off abruptly, suddenly ashamed. "I never got to do anything like this when I was in high school," she whispered. "You…You _know_ what I looked like before and I didn't have many friends and I…" She was having a hard time admitting to her past, ashamed of the person she had been before. "Why would you try to ruin my first _real _date?"

Sideswipe cursed himself, cursed his brother and cursed himself again. "Hannah, I'm sorry," he said softly.

Hannah sighed, running hear hand through her long chestnut hair. "You should go."

"No, not until I fix this," Sides refuted.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "How? How are you going to fix it, Sides? The date's over."

Sides didn't know how he was going to fix it. He probably couldn't.

Unless…

* * *

Sideswipe pounded on the door. "Riley! Riley, open up!"

Riley did so, his light hair mused from sleeping. "What the hell, Sideswipe? It's three in the morning."

"I cancelled the reservation," Sideswipe said in a gush.

Riley blinked, suddenly more awake. "Excuse me?"

"At La Bella Note. I cancelled the reservation," Sides explained in a gush. "Me and Sunny followed you and Hannah all night and tried to ruin your date. And we didn't trust you either. We were worried you try something funny with Hannah. Not that I think that anymore. You're a good guy, Riley and Hannah likes you, I think. So I'm here to apologize."

Riley stared at the Autobot's hologram for a moment before grinning. "I knew it."

Sideswipe's head tilted to the side. "Huh?"

"I knew you were following us since we left the Lebanese restaurant. Dude," he laughed, "you're a _red Lamborghini_. Not very good for undercover reconnaissance. Just saying."

"You knew," Sides clarified, "the whole time?"

"Yeah, but Hannah thinks that I didn't." Riley shrugged. "Just because I'm a nice guy, doesn't make me blind or stupid." After a pause, he slugged Sideswipe in the arm. "That's for cancelling the reservation, dick."

Sideswipe blinked stupidly again, subconsciously rubbing his arm, not that it really hurt. "I thought you were a nice guy."

Riley grinned again. "Look, you love Hannah. I get it."

Sideswipe's jaw dropped and if it was possible, his face would've been bright red. "You…do?"

"You're her guardian, right? I don't know the details of that bond, but from what I hear it's pretty intense. You're her protector right?"

Sideswipe nodded slowly. At least he didn't think that Sideswipe _loved_ her, loved her. Who know how he'd react to that; an Autobot and a human girl?

"So, all's forgiven?" Sides asked, tentatively.

"Well, I am pissed at you for waking me up, but yeah other then that I understand. You're just looking out for Hannah."

Sideswipe actually grinned a little, clapping Riley on the shoulder. "Thanks, man. You're alright."

Riley nodding affirmatively. "Yeah I know."

"And if you and Hannah go out again, I'll really try to stay out of it.

"Yeah, I think that would be best. Now, go away. I'm tired."

Sideswipe backed up. "Night, Riley.

"Night, Sideswipe."

* * *

Sideswipe headed back towards Hannah's room. He shouldn't have been surprised to find the door locked when he tried to open it. Sighing, his head dropped against the wood.

"Hannah, I know you're still up. Open the door."

Silence.

"Hannah, please?"

Silence.

"I confessed to Riley. He forgives me, why can't you."

The door swung open to reveal a still very angry looking Hannah. "Maybe because this wasn't his first date? Maybe because he's too nice of a guy? Maybe because he's ignorant to fact that you're a big, fat jerk!"

She tried to slam the door, but Sideswipe caught and easy pushed it open again, stepping into the apartment. Hannah backed away from him, arms crossed defensively over her stomach. Sides hated to see her so mad, especially at him.

"Hannah, will you ever forgive me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I'll forgive you. But I just want to be mad at you right now, so let me."

Sideswipe held his hands up in surrender. "You got it."

Hannah walked around the couch and flopped down, grabbing her bowl of popcorn. Hitting play, the movie picked up with King Arthur 'galloping' away from the castle as the two sentries continued to discuss swallows carrying coconuts. Looking over her shoulder, she glared at him irritably.

"You watching this with me or what?"

Sideswipe didn't hesitate and walked around to sit beside her, resuming his previous position, watching Hannah out of the side of his eye rather then the movie. Slowly, but surely, Hannah became more and more relaxed as the movie progressed. While the old crone beat the black cat against the wall, that was when Botchy decided to make his entrance, leaping up onto the couch purring happily as he walked across the back of the couch to Sides to get a couple scratches.

"Poor kitty," Hannah said with a soft laugh. Reaching back, she scratched Botchy's lower back, causing the cat to arch. "I would never beat you against a wall," she told him.

"Sunny might," Sides said softly, "if Botchy ever gets hair on his interior again."

Hannah stared at him skeptically. "Why do you think Botchy doesn't travel with Sunny anymore? I want my cat to _live_."

The movie progressed and Hannah's laughter was less stiff and she eventually slouched to the point where she was leaning against Sides. Without really thinking, Sideswipe wrapped and arm around her shoulder's holding her securely to his side, feeling the warmth of her through his hologram all the way to his spark.

"I forgive you," she whispered to him. "But if you do anything like that again I really will hit you with shopping carts."

Sideswipe sighed in relief and pressed a kiss against her hair. Kissing was an entirely human gesture, one he really hadn't found appealing until recently. He felt Hannah smile against his shoulder and snuggled further into his side. She fell asleep before Arthur and his knights reached the Cave of Caerbannog and faced the killer rabbit, which was a bummer because it was her favorite part. Sideswipe rested his cheek to the top of her head. They could watch it again tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N:** Like it? I hope so!

I had mixed feelings about the twins using human curses over the traditional ones you see them saying, but I don't know I kind of like it. Since they're on Earth I figured why not? Our curses would probably rub off on them right? I used Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference because I just love that movie and figured that Sides would too. It's classic! And as to the Ode to Joy thing that is actually something I due when I get bored, but I usually played it on a desk turning a boring lecture at school. :P

I don't know where I going to go from here with the universe. I have a few ideas but just having a hard time getting them off the ground so we'll see. No promises.

Thanks for reading! Please Review

-Ray


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